JPH03186410A - Independent suspension - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve a degree of freedom at the time of designing a suspension by dividing an upper arm, which supports a knuckle possible to swivel, into a knuckle side and a car body side and connecting the car body side upper arm to a lower arm by a rigid unit with both ends made possible to swivel. CONSTITUTION:A knuckle 2, to which a wheel 1 is rotatably mounted, is formed of a spindle 18 for supporting the wheel 1 through a bearing, fork arms 19, 20 extended to vertically branch from the base end of this spindle 18 and a knuckle arm 21 for suitably changing a steering angle of the wheel 1 with a steering mechanism, not shown, connected. A side control arms 3, 4 are connected to the point end of these fork arms 19, 20 through ball joints 12, 13. Here the upper arm 3 is divided into a knuckle side and a car body side, and both upper arms 6, 7 are connected by a swivel shaft 8. And, the point end 7c of the car body side upper arm 7 is connected to the point end 4c of the lower arm 4 by a rigid unit 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field of the Invention) The present invention relates to an independent suspension applied to the front or rear wheels of an automobile, and particularly to a Witschborn independent suspension.

(Technical background of the invention and its problems) In order to absorb various vibrations and shocks received from the road surface while the automobile is running, a suspension device with a buffering effect is installed between the body and the axle. It is being Such a suspension supports the vehicle on the road and transmits the propulsion force from the drive wheels to the body, cushions the impact from the road surface at 161, and not only protects the vehicle from damage, but also improves ride comfort and tracking stability. Because it has an important function, as automobiles become faster, its function becomes more and more important as it influences the visual field of speeding up, and scientific research into devices in general has progressed and many mechanism types and elements have been developed. ing.

Suspensions generally need to be soft in the downward direction and strong in the front, rear, left and right directions, and can be roughly classified into axle suspensions and independent suspensions based on their structure. Axle suspensions are generally used for the front and rear wheels of trucks and the rear wheels of passenger cars, while independent suspensions are often used for the front and rear wheels of passenger cars, where ride comfort and driving stability are important. There is.

Independent suspension allows the left and right wheels to move independently without being connected by a single axle, and can be roughly divided into three types based on their structure: Wishbone type, MacPherson type, and trailing type. It can be classified into arm type and swing axle type. Compared to axle-type suspensions, this type of independent suspension functions like a human knee joint, in that even if either the left or right wheel rides on a bump in the road, only that wheel moves up and down, and the body does not tilt. , it has the advantage of being able to suppress rolling (sideways shaking) and perform stable running.

The most widely used independent suspension type suspension is the wishbone type suspension (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application No. 53-26.020). The feature of this type is that the link mechanism with two arms works like a parallelogram, so the wheels move up and down almost vertically, so the tires are always in horizontal contact with the road surface, improving ground contact. The point is that it is good. In addition, since the structure is more complex than the Matsukufu γ-son type, it should be improved in terms of vehicle volume and cost, or in terms of the engine room being narrower because the two arms protrude into the engine room. Despite the problems with scale, it has been in the spotlight again in recent years for its robustness and excellent stability during cornering.

Witschborn independent suspension is the seventh
As shown in the figure, the knuckle 2 is attached to the body or frame 5 by two control arms 3 and 4 similar to the wishbone shape of a chicken breast, and this rAJ-shaped control Arm 3, 4
The open end is attached to the body side 5, and the other end is connected at the top and bottom at the knuckle 2. Generally, the body 5 and the control arms 3 and 4 are connected by bushes 10 and 11, while the knuckle spindle 2 and the control arms 3 and 4 are connected by ball joints 12 and 13 both at the top and bottom. It is true.

As a result, the two lower control arms 3.4 and the knuckle 2 form a link mechanism. In addition,
In addition to the wishbone type suspension in which the two control arms are both A-shaped, there are also known suspensions in which the lower arm is not A-shaped but is configured to use a tension rod to compensate for the force acting in the longitudinal direction. ing(
so-called rlJ type arm).

In order to achieve satisfactory tire wear resistance, steering stability, prevention of vibration transmission to the steering wheel, etc. in a vehicle body equipped with such a Witschborn type suspension, the length of the upper arm and lower arm, and the mounting position ( It is necessary to select the appropriate interval) etc.

However, the lengths of the upper arm and lower arm, and the mounting positions (intervals) thereof are largely restricted by the space in which the vehicle is to be mounted. For example, in order to improve running stability when turning, it is possible to arrange the control arm so that the ground camber is 0° even when turning. It is unwise to configure the swing angle of the upper arm due to the movement to correspond to the swing angle of the vehicle body when turning 1 pJ, but if the upper arm is lengthened, the fulcrum that pivots the upper arm will extend into the engine room. becomes. Therefore, the flash shape of the car: 1.
In the past, the actual situation was to sacrifice suspension performance to a certain degree because it had a great impact on engine design.

Moreover, with conventional suspensions, the front force of the vehicle
The arrangement of the upper arm and lower arm as seen from above is uniquely determined by the change characteristics of the roll center height, the stiffening characteristics of the scuff, and the camber change characteristics, and the selection range of each of these characteristic values is determined by the other two characteristic values. This has the drawback of lacking design flexibility, as it is extremely limited by For example, if the camber change characteristic is 0 when the camber angle to the ground is 0.
If we consider the arrangement of the upper arm and lower arm so that
, becomes large, resulting in a decrease in driving stability during turns.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, it is desirable for the IJF to change the camber angle of the wheels in the negative camber direction with the swing angle of the vehicle body so that the camber from the ground becomes 0° when turning. When a wheel rides on a protrusion on the ground and makes a bump stroke beyond a predetermined length while driving, canvas last will occur on the wheel, so it is better to suppress the negative camber tendency from that point on so that the vehicle can drive straight. It is said that L, which promotes upward stability, is rude. However, conventional suspensions exhibit a tendency for negative camber to increase as the vertical movement of the wheels increases, and therefore, it has not been possible to simultaneously satisfy cornering stability and straight-line running stability.

Therefore, the present inventors believe that if the swing angle and length of the upper arm can be changed appropriately according to the stroke of the wheel, it is possible to obtain different camber change characteristics even with the same roll center height and the same scuff change. The present inventors have discovered that it is possible to do this, and have completed the present invention.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art as described above, and its purpose is to achieve different camber changes even with the same roll center height and the same scuff change. The object of the present invention is to provide a suspension that can provide characteristics that can provide satisfactory driving stability and that can significantly improve the degree of precision in suspension design.

(Summary of the Invention) 1-The first invention for achieving the stated purpose is to use a pair of control arms consisting of an upper arm and a lower arm whose tips are swingably connected to a knuckle attached to a wheel. , in a wishbone type independent suspension in which the base end of the control arm is swingably pivoted to the vehicle body side, the upper arm is divided into a knuckle side upper arm and a vehicle body side upper arm, and both upper arms are separated. are connected so as to be swingable in the two downward movement directions of the wheels, and further, the vehicle body side upper arm and the lower arm are connected by a rigid body whose both ends are swingable. It's a suspension.

Further, a second invention for achieving the above object combines a pair of control arms consisting of an upper arm and a lower arm whose tips are swingably connected to a knuckle attached to a wheel, and a base end of the control arm. In a wishbone type independent suspension in which the upper arm is pivotably pivoted to the vehicle body side, the upper arm is divided into a knuckle side upper arm and a vehicle body side upper arm, and one end of the rigid body is connected to the vertical movement direction of the wheel. The other end of the rigid body is connected to the lower arm so as to be swingable in the vertical movement direction of the wheel; This is an independent suspension characterized by one end of the upper arm being swingably connected to a rigid body.

In the first and second inventions configured in this way,
When driving straight, the arm length of the upper arm is the straight line length connecting the connection part with the knuckle and the continuous connection part with the vehicle body (
Ll). If the vehicle turns from this state, or if the wheels run onto a protrusion on the road, the relative position of the wheels relative to the vehicle body will move upwards, and the lower arm will be centered around the joint with the vehicle body. rotate upward. Then, the rigid body attached to this lower arm pushes the upper arm on the vehicle body side. At this time, if the mounting positions of the lower and upper ends of the rigid body are appropriately changed, the swing angle of the vehicle body side upper arm relative to the swing angle of the lower arm will change. As a result, the connecting portion between the vehicle body side upper arm and the rigid body is bent at a predetermined angle, and along with this, the connecting portion between the rigid body and the knuckle side upper arm, that is, the swing shaft is bent by a predetermined angle. , the arm length (L2) of the upper arm is,
It changes by a predetermined length (Ll - L2) from when traveling straight. Therefore, the wheel will have a predetermined camber angle of 6.

As described above, in the suspension of the present invention, the upper arm and the lower arm can be attached to the vehicle body at the same position, the knuckle can be attached at the same position, and the upper arm and the knuckle can be attached to the vehicle body side without changing the lengths of both arms. By appropriately selecting the length of the upper arm, the length of the rigid body, and the position of the upper arm on the knuckle side relative to the rigid body, it is possible to give different camber change characteristics even with the same roll center height and the same scuff change. This greatly improves the degree of freedom in suspension design, and allows for satisfactory running stability.

(Detailed description of the invention) Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the first invention;
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram explaining the operation of the same embodiment.
．． The same parts and benefits as those of the conventional suspension shown in FIG. 8 are given the same reference numerals.

The knuckle 2 to which the wheel 1 is rotatably attached includes a spindle 18 that supports the wheel 1 via a bearing (not shown), and a bifurcated arm 19 that branches downward from the base end of this spindle. 20, and a knuckle arm 21 to which a steering mechanism (not shown) is connected to change the steering angle of the wheel 1 as appropriate. As shown in the first prisoner, two A-type control arms 3 and 4 are connected to the tips of the bifurcated arms 19.20 via ball joints 12.13, and when the wheel 1 moves up and down, Even when the wheels 1 are steered by the steering mechanism, the knuckles 2 are swingable relative to the control arms 3 and 4. Note that the caster is determined by the inclination of the straight line connecting the centers of both ball joints 12 and 13.

The lower arm 4 has a pair of front and rear arm portions 4a, 4 on the base end side.
The arm portions 4a and 4b of the A-type lower arm 4 are attached to the body or frame 5 via a bushing 11, and resist the shearing force of the bushing 11 to rotate the shaft 14. rotate around. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a suspension spring 22 is provided between the lower arm 4 and the frame 5 to urge the lower arm 4 downward.

On the other hand, the upper arm 3 according to the present embodiment is composed of a nacelle side upper arm 6 and a vehicle body side upper arm 7, both of which are constructed of A-type arms. In both of these upper arms 6.7, the arm portions 6a, 6b of the upper arm 6 on the nacelle side and the tip portion 7C of the axle arm 7 on the vehicle body side are connected by a swing shaft 8. 8, the top arm 6 on the side of the vehicle and the upper arm 7 on the vehicle body side rotate relative to each other. The base end side of the upper arm 7 on the vehicle body side, that is, the arm portions 7a and 7b, are connected to the vehicle body or the frames 1 and 5 by bushings 10 (see the second circle), and are connected to the vehicle body or the frames 1 and 5 by bushings 10, like the lower arm 4 described above. The vehicle body side upper arm 7 rotates. Therefore, the knuckle side upper arm 6 moves around the swing axis 8 with respect to the vehicle body side upper arm 7, but rotates around the axis 15 through the vehicle body side upper arm 7 with respect to the vehicle body (frame 5). It will move.

In the suspension of this embodiment, the tip ff+Ij 4 e of the lower arm 4 and the tip 7c of the upper arm 7 on the vehicle body side are connected by a rigid body 9. What is the rigid body and lower arm 4? A rigid body 9 is connected around the lower arm 4 so as to rotate relative to the lower arm 4. Further, the rigid body 9 and the vehicle body side upper arm 7 are connected around ht+17 so that the rigid body 9 moves [-] relative to the vehicle body side upper arm 7.

As described above-4-2, the vehicle body side upper arm 7, the knuckle side upper arm 6, the knuckle 2, and the rigid body 9 constitute a link mechanism.

Next, the operation of the suspension of this embodiment will be explained.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the suspension of this embodiment installed on a car, viewed from the front of the vehicle, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the suspension of the same example when the wheels move in the negative direction. It is a diagram.

As shown in the second country, when the vehicle is traveling straight, the arm length of the upper arm 3 is a straight line length L1 that covers the ball joint 12 and the bush 10. From this state,
When the vehicle body turns or when the wheel 1 rides on a protrusion on the road, the relative position of the wheel 1 with respect to the frame 5 moves in the L direction, and as a result, the lower arm 4 moves around the bush 11 - Rotate towards L. Then, the rigid body 9 attached to the lower arm 4 pushes the upper arm 7 on the vehicle body side and lifts it up. At this time, in this embodiment, since the lengths of the bushing 11 and the lower end of the rigid body 9 and the lengths of the bushing 10 and the upper end of the rigid body 9 are set to be different, the lower arm 4 can be swung. The moving angle and the swinging angle of the vehicle body side upper arm 7 will be different. As a result, the connecting portion between the vehicle body side upper arm 7 and the knuckle side upper arm 6, that is, the swing shaft 8, is bent by a predetermined angle, and the arm length of the upper arm 3 is
Straight line length L connecting ball joint 12 and bushing 10
2, which makes the vehicle a predetermined length taller than when traveling straight. Therefore, the wheel 1 has a predetermined camber angle h.

As described above, in the suspension of this embodiment, the upper arm 3 and lower arm 4 are attached to the frame 5 in the fixed position, and the attachment to the knuckle 2 is in the fixed position.
4, the length of the upper arm 7 on the vehicle body side and the upper arm 6 on the knuckle side, the length of the rigid body 9, and the mounting positions of both the upper and lower ends of the rigid body 9 can be adjusted by selecting the appropriate positions. Even if the roll center height is the same and the scuff change is 101 degrees, the optical camber change characteristic is
If the quality of the suspension design is greatly improved, it is possible to set the driving stability to a level that is satisfactory.

Next, an embodiment of the second invention will be described.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the second invention;
FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram explaining the operation of the same embodiment.
- The same parts and months as the embodiment of the first invention shown in Figure 3 and the conventional suspension shown in Figures 7 and 8 have the same symbols 5J.
It is attached.

The knuckle 2 on which the wheel 1 is rotatably mounted is a spindle 18 that supports the wheel 1 via a bearing (not shown).
, a bifurcated arm 1.9.20 branching downward from the base end of the spindle, and a knuckle arm connected to a steering mechanism (not shown) to appropriately change the steering angle of the wheel 1. It consists of 21. As shown in Figure 4, the bifurcated arm 19.2
At the tip of 0, 2 is attached via ball joint 12.13.
The A-type control arms 3 and 4 are connected, and the wheels 1
Even when the wheel 1 moves up and down, or when the wheel 1 is steered by the steering mechanism, the knuckle 2 can swing freely relative to the control arms 3 and 4. Note that the caster is determined by the inclination of the straight line connecting the centers of both ball joints 12 and 13.

The lower arm 4 has a pair of front and rear arm portions 4a, 4 on the base end side.
The arm portions 4a and 4b of the A-type lower arm 4 are attached to the body or frame 5 via a bushing 11, and resist the shearing force of the bushing 11 to rotate the shaft 14. rotate around. Further, a suspension spring (not shown) is provided between the lower arm 4 and the frame 5, and urges the lower arm 4 downward.

On the other hand, the upper arm 3 according to the present embodiment includes a knuckle side upper arm 6 and a vehicle body side upper arm 7, both of which are configured by AQ arms. The base end side of the upper arm 7 on the vehicle body side, that is, the arm portions 7a and 7b, is connected to the vehicle body or frame 5 by a bushing 10 (see FIG. 5), similarly to the lower arm 4 described above. 7 will assist. In addition, in the suspension of this embodiment, the tip 4c of the lower arm 4
and the tip 7c of the vehicle body side upper arm 7 are connected by a rigid body 9. The rigid body 9 and the lower arm 4 are connected to a shaft 16
A rigid body 9 is connected around the lower arm 4 so as to rotate relative to the lower arm 4. In addition, the rigid body 9 and the upper arm 7 on the vehicle body side
The rigid body 9 is rotatably connected to the vehicle body side upper arm 7 around an axis 17.

Furthermore, the arm portions 6a, 6 of the knuckle side upper arm 6
b and a rigid body 9 are connected by a swing shaft 8, and the knuckle-side upper arm 6 and the rigid body 9 move relative to each other around this swing shaft 8. Therefore, when the knuckle side upper arm 6 rotates around the swing axis 8 with respect to the rigid body 9, it rotates around the axis 17 with respect to the vehicle body side upper arm 7, but when it rotates around the axis 17 with respect to the vehicle body (frame 5 ), it rotates around the shaft 15 via the rigid body 9 and the upper arm 7 on the vehicle body side.

As described above, the vehicle body side upper arm 7, the knuckle side upper arm 6, the knuckle 2, and the rigid body 9 constitute a link mechanism.

Next, the operation of the suspension of this embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the suspension of this embodiment installed on an automobile, viewed from the front of the vehicle, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of the suspension of the same embodiment when the wheels are moved upward.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the vehicle is traveling straight, the arm length of the upper arm 3 is the straight line length LL connecting the ball joint 12 and the bushing 10. From this state,
If the vehicle body turns, or if the wheel 1 hits a protrusion on the road.
When the vehicle runs over the vehicle, the relative position of the wheel 1 with respect to the frame 5 moves in the opposite direction, and accordingly, the lower arm 4 moves around the bush 11 to assist the vehicle.

Then, the rigid body 9 attached to the lower arm 4 pushes the upper arm 7 on the vehicle body side. At this time, in this embodiment, since the lengths of the bushing 11 and the lower part 15:Ij of the rigid body 9 and the lengths of the bushing 10 and the -1 end of the rigid body 9 are set to be different, the lower arm 4 and the swing angle of the upper arm 7 on the vehicle body side are different. As a result, the connecting portion between the vehicle body side upper arm 7 and the rigid body 9 is bent by a predetermined angle, and accordingly, the connecting portion between the rigid body 9 and the knuckle side upper arm 6, that is, the swing shaft 8 is bent by a predetermined angle. As a result,
The arm length of the upper arm 3 is the straight line length L2 connecting the ball joint 12 and the bush 10, and is longer by a predetermined length (LL-L2) than when the vehicle is traveling straight. Therefore, the wheel 1 has a predetermined camber angle.

As described above, in the suspension of this embodiment, the upper arm 3 and the lower arm 4 are attached to the frame 5 at one position, and the knuckle 2 is attached at one position, and both arms 3.
4, the lengths of the vehicle body side upper arm 7 and knuckle side upper arm 6, the length of the rigid body 9, and the attachment position of the knuckle side upper arm 6 to the rigid body 9 can be kept the same by appropriately selecting the position. Even with the same roll center height and scuff change, different camber change characteristics can be provided, which greatly improves the degree of freedom in suspension design, and allows for satisfactory running stability.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified as desired without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the upper arm on the vehicle body side can be attached to the vehicle body without changing the position of the upper arm and the lower arm, the position of the attachment to the knuckle, the length of both arms, etc. The length of the upper arm on the knuckle side, the length of the rigid body, and the attachment of the upper arm on the knuckle side to the rigid body can be adjusted to suit the TT, even if the roll center height is the same and the scuff change is the same, the camber change will be different. The characteristics can be changed, the quality of suspension design can be greatly improved, and driving stability can be set to a satisfactory level.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the first invention;
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram explaining the operation of the same embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram explaining the operation of the same embodiment.
A perspective view showing an embodiment of the second invention, FIGS. 5 and 6 are conceptual diagrams illustrating the operation of the embodiment, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are conceptual diagrams showing a conventional suspension. ]...wheel, 2...knuckle, 3
...Upper arm, 4...Lower arm, 5.
... Vehicle body (frame), 6... Knuckle side upper arm, 7... Vehicle body side upper arm, 9... Rigid body,

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A pair of control arms consisting of an upper arm (3) and a lower arm (4) whose tips are swingably connected to a knuckle (2) attached to a wheel (1); In a wishbone type independent suspension in which the base end of the control arm is pivotally attached to the vehicle body side (5), the upper arm (3) is connected to the knuckle side upper arm (6) and the vehicle body side upper arm (7). The upper arms (6, 7) are connected so as to be swingable in the vertical movement direction of the wheel (1), and the upper arm (7) on the vehicle body side and the lower arm (
4) are connected by a rigid body (9) whose both ends are swingable. 2) It has a pair of control arms consisting of an upper arm (3) and a lower arm (4) whose tips are swingably connected to a knuckle (2) attached to a wheel (1), and the base end of this control arm is In a wishbone type independent suspension that is pivotally connected to the vehicle body side (5), the upper arm (3) is divided into a knuckle side upper arm (6) and a vehicle body side upper arm (7). One end of the vehicle body side upper arm (7) is attached so that it can swing freely in the vertical movement direction of the wheel (1).
), and the other end of the rigid body (9) is connected to the wheel (
1) is swingably connected to the lower arm (4) so as to be swingable in the vertical movement direction, and further, one end of the knuckle-side upper arm (6) is swingably connected to the rigid body (9). Independent suspension featuring